History For Teens

When Kate Thompson's father is killed by the notorious Rose Riders for a mysterious journal that reveals the secret location of a gold mine, the 18-year-old disguises herself as a boy and takes to the gritty plains looking for answers and justice. What she finds are devious strangers, dust storms, and a pair of brothers who refuse to quit riding in her shadow. But as Kate gets closer to the secrets about her family, she gets closer to the truth about herself and must decide if there's room for love in a heart so full of hate.

Because she is Jewish, 14 year-old Piri has been held prisoner in Nazi concentration camps for two years. She is freed when Bergen-Belsen is liberated, but she is very ill and has deep psychological scars. In a voice full of innocence and courage, Piri tells how she got through the first years after the Holocaust.

Best-selling author Georgia Bragg delights young people with her quirky characters and unique subject matter. How They Croaked provides all the gory details of the awful ends of 19 awfully famous people. It details Ludwig Van Beethoven’s expansive finale, Henry VII’s explosive end, Albert Einstein’s great brain escape, and Marie Curie’s glowing demise.

During the civil rights movement, the state of Mississippi created an elaborate spy network. Its mission was to preserve segregation by any means necessary—including voter interference, sponsorship of white supremacy groups, and even murder.

In early 1968 the grisly on-the-job deaths of two African-American sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, prompted an extended strike by that city's segregated force of trash collectors. Workers sought union protection, higher wages, improved safety, and the integration of their work force. Their work stoppage became a part of the larger civil rights movement and drew an impressive array of national movement leaders to Memphis, including, on more than one occasion, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King added his voice to the struggle in what became the final speech of his life.

As a child, Andy loved to draw. He took classes at the Carnegie Museum of art, where his teacher told the class,"everything you look at has art." In college many teachers didn't appreciate Andy's understanding of art. He annoyed them by doing things his own way - like by cutting a painting into four parts and submitting it as separate assignments. But later, his unique approach would lead to people everywhere reevaluating their ideas.

More than 2,000 years ago, Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang Di was laid to rest in a tomb guarded by thousands of life-size clay statues of warriors and horse-drawn chariots. Some 1,000 years earlier, the tombs of Chinese emperors were not guarded by clay figures, but by the dead bodies of humans and animals sacrificed for the cause. All over the world, different cultures have conducted an amazing array of intriguing burial practices.

Trusting an overly optimistic guidebook, the Donner Party sets out for the Promised Land in May of 1846 - unaware that they're following only rumor-fueled speculations. But after betting their lives on a bogus shortcut, the starving travelers soon struggle to survive the November snows of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Praying for a miraculous rescue, 48 of the original 88 escape certain death by living off the flesh of their dead comrades.

In The Future of Science Is Female, author and award-winning journalist Zara Stone shares the fascinating, complicated stories of how a diverse group of powerful women got started - from the perspective of those still working it out as they go along. Take 22-year-old Dominique Barnes, a female hero of the oceans. She was worried about all the dolphins and whales killed during shrimp farming, so the marine biologist created a tasty, affordable plant-based shrimp alternative. And she's just one of the sheroes you will discover in The Future of Science Is Female.

Murderers, mob bosses, and convicts . . . these guys are not your average neighbors. Unless you live on Alcatraz. It's 1935 and 12-year-old Moose Flanagan and his family have just moved to the infamous island that's home to criminals like notorious escapee Roy Gardner, Machine Gun Kelly, and of course, Al Capone. Now Moose has to try to fit in at his new school, avoid getting caught up in one of the warden's daughter's countless plots, and keep an eye on his sister Natalie, who's not like other kids.

Told in alternating narratives that bridge centuries, the latest novel from New York Times best-selling author Samira Ahmed traces the lives of two young women fighting to write their own stories and escape the pressure of familial burdens and cultural expectations in worlds too long defined by men.

Despite her world of privilege, Hélène is inspired early on by the radical ideas of her progressive governess. Though her family tries to intervene, the seeds of revolution have already been planted in Hélène’s heart, as are the seeds of love from an unlikely friendship with a young jeweler’s apprentice. Hélène’s determination to find true love is as revolutionary as her attempt to unravel the truth behind the concealed murder that tore her family apart.

Seventeen-year-old Edgar Poe counts down the days until he can escape his foster family - the wealthy Allans of Richmond, Virginia. He hungers for his upcoming life as a student at the prestigious new university, almost as much as he longs to marry his beloved Elmira Royster. However, on the brink of his departure, all his plans go awry when a macabre Muse named Lenore appears to him. Muses are frightful creatures that lead Artists down a path of ruin and disgrace, and no respectable person could possibly understand or accept them.

Christopher Columbus is one of the most famous explorers of all time, but he was neither the first nor last adventurer to ever stumble upon a great discovery. From the Silk Road of Asia to the icy shores of Antarctica, our knowledge of the world today is in large part due to several intrepid pioneers, risking life and limb for the sake of exploration. After all, setting off into the dark unknown requires an enormous amount of bravery. But every explorer quickly learns that courage and curiosity aren't enough to save you if you can't read a map or trespass on somebody else's land!

After unwittingly helping her mother poison King Louis XIV, 17-year-old alchemist Mirabelle Monvoisin is forced to see her mother's Shadow Society in a horrifying new light: They're not heroes of the people, as they've always claimed to be, but murderers. She herself included. Mira tries to ease her guilt by brewing helpful curatives, but her hunger tonics and headache remedies cannot right past wrongs or save the dissenters whom her mother vows to purge.

The explosive finale to the Blood of Gods and Royals epic fantasy series is full of royalty, magic, danger, and betrayal and featuring the life of a young Prince Alexander before he became Alexander the Great. Steeped in real history and infused with all the myth and mysticism of the time, this series is perfect for fans of Game of Thrones, Kiersten White, Kendare Blake, and Evelyn Skye. The story begins with a tidal wave and ends with the very Fates themselves, as Prince Alexander of Macedon steps into his role as visionary warrior and unites the Greek States, leading them all to a new dawn of legends.

When pickpocket Danny accidentally bids for Maharajah the elephant at an Edinburgh auction, he's swept up on an unforgettable journey. His new employer, a zookeeper, transforms Danny into a bejewelled Indian prince. As he rides Maharajah from Scotland to his new home in England, even Queen Victoria follows their journey with delight. But as a rival zookeeper wagers on their failure, Danny's shady connections threaten to overturn the mission....

For years war has touched the Cambodian village where 12-year-old Dara lives. Bombs have gradually destroyed the huts and temple. Recently, soldiers marched into town and burned all the rice seed. Now with nothing to eat, Dara and her family are walking to the border. They have heard of a refugee camp near Thailand, far away from danger. The camp is even better than Dara expected. She has all the food she wants and makes wonderful new friends.

W.C. Jameson takes his listeners back to a time when the six-gun was king, life was cheap, and many a bandit died before recovering his stolen loot. Jameson, a folklorist, musician, and environmentalist, has been on close to 200 expeditions for lost stashes of gold, silver, or other treasures.

In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first American woman to obtain a medical degree. Following in her footsteps in the early 1980s, Brenda Berkman was the first woman to challenge New York City’s ban on female firefighters. During the last few centuries, countless women have made amazing contributions to society. Women are now Nobel Peace Prize winners, world-class athletes, and talented inventors and adventurers.